Wisconsin is unique in the number of historic movie theatres that remain standing today. This book catalogs those theatres, from ones built as opera houses, auditoriums, and community halls in the mid 19th century to the ornate "movie palaces" of the late 1920s and 1930s and, finally, the quickly and cheaply constructed theatres of the 1950s.

Around 900 Wisconsin theatres are arranged alphabetically by town in entries that provide the theatre's name(s), location, number of seats, and opening and closing dates. There are 335 photographs included.

This history and catalogue of movie theatres in Illinois follows their evolution from the early opera houses, to the storefront nickelodeons, to awe-inspiring movie palaces and the advent of the multiplex.

The story of downtown Chicago--its early development, later struggles, and current restoration--is mirrored in the history of the theatres that occupied its streets. This vivid chronicle tells the tale of the Windy City's theatres, from mid-nineteenth century vaudeville houses to the urban decline and renewal of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Discussed are the rebuilding efforts after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the first nickel theaters showing "moving pictures," the ornate silent movie palaces, the move to "talkies," the challenges of the Great Depression and the introduction...